Rejection Policy

The Editorial Board is committed to the principles of academic integrity, COPE international publication ethics, and the prevailing legislation of Ukraine.
Manuscripts that violate ethical, legal, or technical standards will be denied consideration. Furthermore, articles already published may be subject to retraction if significant violations are subsequently identified.

I. Adherence to Academic Integrity

In accordance with Article 42 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Education’ and Articles 12–16 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Academic Integrity’, the Editorial Board shall reject manuscripts upon identification of the following violations:

  • Academic Plagiarism: Presenting the results of others as one’s own research findings, or reproducing previously published texts by other authors without appropriate attribution or acknowledgment of authorship.

  • Self-Plagiarism (Text Recycling): Presenting one’s own previously published results as original or new research without citing the primary source.

  • Data Fabrication: The invention or unauthorized creation of data, facts, or research outcomes.

  • Data Falsification: The deliberate manipulation, alteration, or modification of existing research data, processes, or results.

  • Insufficient Originality: All manuscripts undergo mandatory screening via the Unicheck system. To proceed to peer review, a manuscript must demonstrate an originality score of at least 80%.

2. Protection of National Interests and Information Security

In accordance with Article 436-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and the provisions of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Media’, the Editorial Board shall not consider or publish manuscripts that:

  • Promote or support the armed aggression of the russian federation against Ukraine;

  • Contain incitement or calls to violate the territorial integrity of Ukraine;

  • Utilize sources published in the Russian Federation after February 24, 2022 (excluding materials used specifically for the critical analysis of propaganda);

  • Are authored by individuals affiliated with institutions of the aggressor state.

3. Copyright Compliance

Pursuant to Articles 22 and 26 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Copyright and Related Rights’, the following constitute grounds for refusal of publication:

  • Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights: Evidence of failure to respect the moral (non-property) or economic (property) rights of third parties;

  • Unauthorized Citation: The use of excerpts from other works without proper attribution or in a manner that exceeds the scope justified by the research purpose.

4. Retraction Procedure

Should significant ethical or legal breaches be identified post-publication, the Editorial Board shall implement a retraction procedure in strict accordance with COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) guidelines:

  • The article will be clearly marked with a "Retracted" watermark or label.

  • A formal retraction notice explaining the specific grounds for the decision will be published on the journal’s official website.

  • Information regarding the retraction will be submitted to all scientometric databases in which the journal is indexed (e.g., Scopus, Web of Science).

For a comprehensive description of this process, please refer to the "Procedure for the Retraction of Published Articles" section.